Baseball base



May 31, 1949. J. G. FLEMING ET AL BASEBALL BASE Filed May 20, 1947 I VENTORS fa/7 6 Pkwy/697,9 vtz z'azw JK/G/ A TTORN EYS Patented May 31, 1949 UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BASEBALL BASE John G. Fleming, PawtnckenB. 1., and William J. Klem, Miami Beach, Fla., assignors, by mesne assignments. to said Fieming Application May 20, 1947, Serial No. 749,216

1 Claim. 1

This. invention relates to a baseball base.

The usual baseball base, which has heretofore been provided is of square shape and of generally as uniform thickness throughout the square formation which provides prominent corners on the base. A baseball player after batting is required to touch each base in order to conform to the rules, and the corners of the base are the most likely place for the foot to strike. Because of the hazard of falling which occurs by reason of a player placing. his foot upon the base while running, a player must take special caution or slow his progress somewhat inorder that he will be sure to place his foot upon the base at such a location that he will not be thrown off balance or injure himself. The player must also be careful that his footdoes notstrike the vertical side Wall which provides the thickness for the base at its edges as this would also interfere with his running. These hazards are very real and new bases are very much disliked by the players because the square. corners and edges are very much more pronounced than old bases.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a baseball base which will be so shaped that it will present less hazard to the baseball player in running the bases.

A more specific object of this invention is to remove the hazardous corners and side walls which are presented to a player in the base heretofore provided.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sloping surface which will be better adapted to receive the foot of the baseball runner than were bases which have heretofore been provided.

Another object of this invention is to provide a base which will be more resistant to dirt and may be more easily cleaned than comparable bases now in use.

Another object of this invention is to provide a base which will be waterproof, making it unnecessary to remove the base from the baseball field during rain.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cover for the base which will have these inherent qualities of being easily cleaned and prevent the base from absorbing rain Water.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cover which should the same become ruptured may be easily patched.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the baseball, base looking at the top thereof Fig, 21s a bottom. View of the baseballbase looking at the; bottom thereof;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the. baseball base and illustratingthe stakes for holding the base in position.

In proceeding with this invention, we. have formed the inner shaping structure as aunit member comprising some flexible sheet-like. matcrial, such as fabric stuffed with a soft ma terial such as excelsior or textile fibers. andlso shape this, member that it willbe mounded at its center on a somewhat flat curvature; andwill slope from the center point to the four edges and the four corners of the rectangular shape. The bottom .Wall will be substantially flat. Enveloping this. member, there will be a cover which is formed of some elastic rubber-like material having atop wall conforming to the Shape of the member and a bottom wall which has init an opening which will be of such a size thatby stretching the cover or forcing the member throughthe opening the member may bepositioned within the cover so that the two fit snugly together. Anchoring straps extend across the base beneath the top wall of the cover but over the top wall of the member and cross each other both above and below the member so as to be secured by the anchoring stakes in position.

With reference to the drawings, the base member consists essentially of a cover It] and an inner member II. This inner member comprises a top wall [2 of some flexible sheet-like material, usually a woven fabric, and a bottom wall I3 of the same material with a stufiing M of some soft material, such as excelsior, cotton fibers, felt, hair, flannel, kapok or the like. This soft material is provided in such quantity and at such 10- cations as to cause the member to have the greatest thickness at its center, and from this center the top wall to slope to the rectangular edges of the flat bottom wall in all directions.

The cover Iii comprises a top wall l6 which will conform to the size and shape of the top wall l2 of the inner member and form a covering therefor. This cover will also include a bottom wall ll which will be generally flat and will be joined to the top wall I6 at the periphery thereof. This periphery will be reinforced by a thicker portion l8 extending about the periphery at the junction of the top and the bottom walls. The cover will be of some suitable, water-repellent or waterproof elastic material, such as natural or synthetic rubber. An opening ill will be formed in the bottom wall of the cover I! of a suitable shape and of a suitable size so that the member I I may be inserted through it or the cover drawn over the outer surface of the member so as to envelop the member, such as shown in the drawings. This cover will be formed of some material which will be readily visible, such for instance as White or a light yellow, this being particularly important for visibility at night as well as in the day time.

The rubber or other material may be molded into the shape of the cover and of the color which is desired. The cover will be provided with slots 20 which ext-end through the top wall It thereof at the middle and adjacent to each of the edges of the rectangular formation, and there will be a reinforcing 2! by reason of the material being thicker about these slots so that tearing 0r rupturing at the edges of the slots Willbe avoided. These slots provide for the passage of straps 22 and 23 between the top wall it of the cover and the top wall 12 of the member, the arrangement being such that the straps 22 and 23 will cross each other at the mounded mid portion of the structure. These straps will then again cross each other below the bottom wall I! of the cover and each strap Will be attached to its buckle 24, such as indicated in Fig. 3. Stakes 25 will be embraced by the straps and be forced into the ground .26, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to retain the base in position in the location on the playing field where it is desired that the base shall be maintained.

By the provision of a base of this character, the same may be readily washed as the rubber surface will lend itself to easy cleaning and because of this cleaning and the light color of the base, such for instance as a white or yellow cover, will maintain the base always visible so as to stand out on the playing field. Should the cover become ruptured, it may be easily vulcanized in the same manner as an inner tube of an automobile is patched. Should it become desirable to remove the cover from the base, this may be easily done by stretching the cover to permit the base to be withdrawn from it. The shape of the base is, by reason of the tapered edges, adapted to easily receive the foot of a player while running, and a player may throw himself heavily upon the base, by reason of the inclined surface thereof, without danger of turning his ankle and without danger of his foot striking an abrupt vertical surface which has occurred in bases heretofore provided.

We claim:

A cover for a baseball base comprising a single piece of rubber-like material having a rectangula bottom wall with an open center of a diamete considerably smaller than the diameter of the base, said cover being sufiiciently elastic to permit\ the opening to stretch and admit said baseball base, an upper wall of generally rectangular shape having a lower peripheral edge merging with th bottom wall, the depth of said cover being greater than the thickness of the base to be held therein, said cover having slots at the juncture of said bottom wall and upper wall, straps extending through said slots and extending across the lower side of the bottom wall to partially cover said opening, said straps crossing each other at the location of said opening and said straps being of a thickness to space the bottom wall with an opening therein above a supporting surface.

JOHN G. FLEMING. WILLIAM J. KLEM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the fil of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,001,909 Vincent Aug. 29, 1911 1,997,738 Maxedon et al Apr. 16, 1935 2,028,454 Johnson Jan. 21, 1936 2,046,126 Latina June 30, 1936 2,103,148 Conrad Dec. 21, 1937 2,220,142 Broxton Nov. 5, 1940 

